[Gilbert & Kiku] Floor 5, Room 2 - First Impressions

[Kiku Honda]

Kiku had moved into the dorms early because there had been a misunderstanding about when school began, to which he thanked any and all deities that might exist. He had greatly enjoyed the last two days, and was able to settle into his room and feel like this could actually be home. But the empty side of the room was always mocking him, reminding him he had to live with someone else eventually.

At that moment he was staring at said side of the room, his left hand propping his head up as he stared with unfocused eyes. He tapped a pencil in his right hand against a drawing pad as he thought. What if it was someone who talked alot? What if he would insist on conversing constantly? What if... Ah. He really needed to stop thinking like that.

He stretched and then glanced at his phone, marking the time. His room-mate was supposed to come in today, although a time was not specified. He sighed, turning back to the drawing pad and putting on a pair of headphones. Well, maybe if he looked completely involved in what he was doing, he would be left alone. But... that would be rude. He should at least say hello... if he was spoken to first. Maybe.

[Gilbert Beilschmidt]

Gilbert had decided not to come early this year. There were always a few days at the boarding school at the beginning of each year that held no classes and students were allowed to come in and get acquainted with the campus or set up their rooms. But that was usually done by the newer students or ones who found it more convenient so Gilbert decided to come on third day instead.

As Gilbert made his way up to his room he wondered what his room mate would be like. As he had gone to check in the office receptionist had mentioned that his room mate had already arrived. Hmm.. as long as the guy was not a complete asshole he was sure that they could get along well. It could even be a friend for all he knew, but there was a lot of new students this year.

Gilbert gave a loud and purposeful knock on the door to announce his presence, counted to 3 in his head before unlocking the door.

“YO~!” He announced loudly and with enthusiasm. He chuckled as he noticed the Asian boy sitting at his desk with his headphones on. That did not deter him. “OH its you Kiku~!” He knew this boy, they had talked occasionally, had a few classes together. Casual acquaintances if anything….he talked to his brother from time didn’t he?

Gilbert grinned “You are lucky enough to be awesome mes’ room mate this year~! Niyo Niyo~!”

[Kiku Honda]

Kiku nearly jumped out of his skin when Gilbert entered, turning to look where the noise had come from. Immediately, his heart sank. It was that white-haired boy... Gilbert? Yes, that was his name. He seemed to always be praising himself.

He lowered his headphones, letting them hang around his neck. "...Ah, yes... hello. You are... Gilbert?" Standing up he bowed slightly, "I hope we can get along this year."

[Gilbert Beilschmidt]

Of course Kiku recognised him, he was the awesome Gilbert after all.

Gilbert grinned as the other stood up for him and bowed. He always loved this trait about the Japanese. So polite and respectful. “Heh~ Ja! It’s me, Gilbert Beilschmidt~ Niyo Niyo~!” He grinned a little wider noticing the slightly startled look on the others face.

“No need to feel intimidated by having me as a roommate, I am sure that it may take you a little while to get use to being roommates with the awesome me but don‘t fret~! ” He did not even notice he was being too loud and boastful for the other to handle which was most likely causing some of the distress. No matter how good Gilbert was at soccer and sport.. No matter how well he did in his best subjects… and no matter how well he did absolutely anything else… Gilbert still had less social grace then a wild Rhinoceros. Actually ..comparing him to a rhinoceros was probably an insult to the animal.

He lugged his large bag in and roughly shoved it on his own bed with a grin. “I mean~ I am sure quite a few people are disappointed they did not get me as a roomie so lets make this an awesome year~” He continued his introductory speech as he opened his bag. He pulled the soccer ball out and passed the ball to him. “Do you play at all?” He asked in an attempt to break the ice.

[Kiku Honda]

The more Gilbert spoke, the more apprehensive about living with him Kiku became. Would he always be this loud...? Or was it just because this was the first time they were meeting as room-mates? He repressed a sigh as he caught the soccer ball, staring at it impassively, "...No, I do not. I do not do many outside sports..." He tossed the ball back to Gilbert, trying not to slip too far into his accent. He always did that when he was nervous.

"I do practice martial arts, and I have done kendo in the past, but that is as far as my experience with sports goes. You are the captain of the soccer team, are you.... aren't you?" Ug, he was having trouble keeping his voice clear. His English really should be better...

He wondered why he had even brought up the soccer team. Now he would probably go on about how he was such an "awesome" player or something.

[Gilbert Beilschmidt]

As Gilbert had the ball passed back to him he was slightly disappointed that the other did not play soccer. Oh well Martial arts were also pretty cool.

“OOh~! So you like fight-type sports then~?“ He grinned “I do a little boxing and wrestling myself… but mainly just for fun and fitness, soccer is the only sports team I am on, and Ja, I am the captain.. For now at least, if someone wants to try for Captain of the new year they can after all~ although I doubt anyone would want anyone else for a Captain anyway~ Awesome me is good at what I do~! Kesesesese” He chuckled and was already starting to organize his things.

Gilbert had an accent himself, although he only tended to have trouble when saying a lot of word that contained the letter ‘w’ and had the habit of replacing English words with a little gracious German. Although if he was rather cross or surprised he would often slip back into speaking German instead of English altogether.

“You should come to tryouts on Saturday, you know, even just for kicks so to speak~” He grinned in a friendly manner. “But don’t expect special treatment just because you are my room mate~!”

[Kiku Honda]

Kiku had taken notice of the accent when they had first met some time ago. There were a surprising amount of people here that didn't have English as their first language. But, that also made it easier. All of his minor slip-ups in speaking English went without comment or teasing, for which he was very grateful.

At the mention of the tryouts, Kiku frowned. He definitely did NOT want to play soccer, but the fact that Gilbert had actively invited him caused him to consider it. Very sure he wouldn't go, but not wanting to be rude, Kiku simply bowed his head slightly and said, "I will think about it."

Seeing his room-mate start to unpack, Kiku sat back down and took up his pencil again. He hesitated, then pulled out a manga from his book-shelf, needing a reference for the drawing he was trying to develop.

[Gilbert Beilschmidt]

Ah Well, there was no harm in asking even if it was met with disappointment, Kiku never really hit him as a soccer fan anyway so it really was no surprise. It was always a good idea to find at least some common ground with a person you will be practically stuck with for a whole year.

As Gilbert turned around to place his laptop onto his desk he noticed the manga the other had just taken from his shelf. Then he noticed all the other manga neatly arranged on the shelf. “…..!” He blinked at the colourful array of manga the other had. “Aha~ you have a lot of manga..!” He said in a slightly impressed tone as he walked over to the shelf, standing next to the other, leaning in slightly to read the titles. The Japanese boy had such a big variety.. Half of the titles he had never even read or heard of.

Gilbert kept talking as he read the titles “Do you watch anime too? They come out so slow in Germany though… So I tend to buy it in English from the net..”



((oh god…. I just realized that Gilbert really is a lot like a closeted weaboo… Dragon ball Z is very popular in Germany.. I can see that as the title that got him hooked as a child XD… although fun fact! Manga is more popular in Germany than any other comics o3o))

[Kiku Honda]

Kiku leaned to the side a bit to avoid contact, trying not to show annoyance in his face. But his discomfort quickly slipped away when he saw how enthusiastic Gilbert was about his manga collection. ...That was somewhat unexpected.

"Yes, I brought most of my manga with me. I like to use them for reference. Ah, yes, I do like anime. You are a fan as well?" His reservations about having the German as a room-mate were somewhat lifted. At least they had something in common. He wasn't exactly used to having room-mates that he could actually talk about things with.

After a moment of hesitation, Kiku motioned to the manga-filled bookshelf, "If you would like to borrow something to read, you are more then welcome. Although most of what I have is in Japanese, I do have a few in English. And I could always translate, if you would like." He was almost fearful about saying that last sentence, since it could possibly mean he would be bothered constantly to translate entire mangas for the year. "...Within reason, of course." He wanted to add 'and if you don't ruin them', but that sounded too rude to say to someone he hardly knew...



(HAHAHA, that's so wonderful!!!)

[Gilbert Beilschmidt]

Gilbert did not seem to notice that he intimidated or annoyed the quieter students, often mistaking their quiet behaviour as either respect or shyness. Gilbert did look rather impressed, real manga from Japan in Japanese! That sounded so awesome! He himself had tried to learn Japanese, mainly from watching anime and online but like many things he had taken an interest in he had pushed aside for another hobby when it had come along.

“Ah~ seriously you will let awesome me borrow your manga?” He grinned and ran a finger along the spines as he read the titles. “Danke~! Thanks~ Awesome me will look after what I use~ I know how easy it is to tear a page if you are not careful”

The other would translate? He grinned at the helpfulness. “Ja… I wish I could read it myself but it’s hard when you already have to be bi-lingual… I have no idea how people learn more than two languages…” He chuckled slightly then noticed what the other had said. “Eh…? Reference?” He blinked curiously. “Do you draw then..?” He glanced over at the others desk.

[Kiku Honda]

Kiku wondered why it was that Gilbert referred to himself as "awesome me". Perhaps it was simply he was very confident in himself. Although he had difficulty separating that from excessive arrogance, Kiku couldn't quite bring himself to think badly of his new room-mate. His way of expressing himself was a bit... over the top, in Kiku's opinion, but he did seem to mean well.

When Gilbert asked if he drew and looked over at his desk, Kiku almost moved to hide his pad instinctively. He was able to restrain himself, mostly because there were sketches scattered all around his desk, and he certainly couldn't hide them all at such short notice without giving the impression he was a very strange person.

His drawings consisted of oriental dragons mostly, but there were also sketches of tigers and panthers. On the far left side of the desk were images of people, some of which looked like students in attendance at the school, although the majority was facial expressions or hand positions. His drawings weren't life-like, having a bit of a comic-book feel to them, but the expressions seemed very real. "Yes, I draw a bit. I am not very good right now, but... well, I'm working on improving myself." He decided not to mention he was creating a manga on his own. He didn't want to reveal that to anyone until he was fairly certain it was well-developed.

[Gilbert Beilschmidt]

He was temporarily distracted from the manga collection by the drawings and sketches on the others desk. Besides Francis he had not really known anyone that was artistically talented in drawing and although Francis was very damn good, it just wasn’t the style Gilbert was interested in. Without missing a beat he stroke over to the others desk, grinning from ear to ear as his eyes scanned over the animal drawings and comic style human observation sketches.

“Ehh!? Not very good!?” He picked up a drawing to observe it closer. “These are awesome! You should really know how to give yourself credit when credit is due~ and the awesome me knows talent when I see it~! Niyo Niyo~!”

He picked up another picture. “You draw the eyes so well….damn~!” Gilbert said with admiration, although he loved to brag about himself, seeing good work on something he liked by someone that he did not hate made him rather impressed. He couldn’t understand why someone with such obvious talent would not want to show off their work. But modesty and humility were not words that were often attached to a description of the loud white haired German.

He grinned. “Your drawings almost make me want to start drawing again myself~!”


(That feel when you are talking to someone and you suddenly realise that you have something in common that you don't have in common with many other people ... XD )

[Kiku Honda]

"Oh-" The objection to picking up his drawings died in Kiku's throat the minute Gilbert began praising him. "Uh- No I- Oh, no, not at all! I mean, I still have to get shading right, and hands are always difficult for me, and, erm, well, landscapes are very frustrating and, uhm-" His face slowly became red with embarrassment, not sure how to react to someone actually thinking his drawings were GOOD. Well, he'd never really shown them to anyone, so he'd never gotten feedback before. He certainly wasn't expecting his first review to be raving at his skill.

He started saying something in Japanese, but stopped himself, eventually looking down at the ground and becoming silent. The polite thing to do would be to simply thank him for the kind words, but... he just didn't think he really deserved them. Suddenly realizing the last thing Gilbert had said, he raised his eyes to look at him again, relieved he could find something to change the subject. "Ah, you... you used to draw? What did you do, if I may ask?"


(That feeling you get when you're relieved to have something in common with the other person so you can shift attention away from yourself 8D)

[Gilbert Beilschmidt]

“Ja~!” He nodded, happy to have someone who was interested.. or at least sounded interested in hearing him talk about himself and his interests. “A year or so ago when I was first really getting into anime and manga ..you know.. Besides the basic Dragon ball Z and stuff like that .. I thought it would be cool to try and draw my own… but I am too much of a perfectionist ..got bored and just read it instead.” That was only really a half truth.

He had once tried to draw manga of his own it was true, but after finally getting a good picture done, he had sneezed and ripped it, it frustrated him enough to stop altogether.

“But.. I guess when I drew things… I liked to draw medieval stuff mixed with techy stuff… I guess you could call it steam punk in a sense mixed with mecha.. Ooh! Like Code Geass! Niyo Niyo~!” It was quite obvious that Gilbert was into action and shonen-manga, preferring things with sort of fighting in it over moe style.

“Hm~ what about you..? Are lots of these Manga here just for reference or do you have certain favourites too..?” He asked.

[Kiku Honda]

Kiku could sympathize with loosing interest. There were short periods of time in which he would stop drawing because it seemed like it was so much work, and there were so many other things to do. But... he could never give it up completely.

He looked up at his manga collection, "Hm... I read anything really. I don't have a particular favorite. Shojo, shonen, it doesn't really make a difference. If the characters and story are interesting, I tend to give it a chance. Well... unless the art is bad. Then I can't seem to bring myself to read it..." If he encountered such manga, he just couldn't pay attention to what was going on in the story. The art would be the only thing he would see.

Suddenly Kiku remembered that Gilbert had picked up some of his drawings. "...Ah, excuse me... if I may...?" He held out his hand, looking at Gilbert expectantly.

[Gilbert Beilschmidt]

Gilbert nodded at the others answer. “Ja~ I am not a fan of comics or manga in general that are drawn bad either… or they have to be damn funny in order to make up for it~! Kesesesese” He chuckled and grinned to himself until the other held out his hand.

“Huh? May what?” He blinked before he realized the other wanted his drawings back. “Oh? Ja!” He handed the other the drawings back carefully. “But your art is good.. All you need now is an awesome story to go with it and you could make something really amazing~!” He meant what he said too. Gilbert was not the type to give false compliments after all although he was slightly jealous of the others work.

As soon as the other had taken back the drawings he quickly went back to his things and picked up his laptop and putting it on his desk. “We can also watch anime on my laptop~ I have a ton of it on my external hard drive~!” He grinned. “Awesome me is happy that his room mate won’t be bothered with me watching it~! Niyo Niyo~!” Gilbert had felt a little embarrassed about his interests in Japanese animation and manga especially with his history of room mates.

[Kiku Honda]

Kiku decided not to say anything in response to Gilbert's praise. Thankfully his room-mate had changed the subject. He didn't think he could handle any more praise. It just felt odd. But... well, he couldn't help but appreciate his words. He felt a bit of pride in his drawings, he hated to admit, and it was nice to hear that it wasn't completely misplaced.

Watching Gilbert unpack, Kiku took off the headphones resting on his neck and placed them on the desk. He supposed he should continue conversation for as long as it was acceptable. Especially considering the fact he actually had something to talk about with him. "No, I don't mind at all. Have you... had trouble with room-mates in the past? I have not met many people here who watch anime, so I suppose it makes sense..."

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